Alt Legal IP News – Issue #53
Hannah Samendinger | September 07, 2017
New Alt Trademarks episode alert! This episode I spoke with Niki Black (MyCase) about trends in legal tech, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence. Check out the episode here.
Watch It
– Is Buck Rogers as well-known as Luke Skywalker? How about the Doctor from Dr. Who? These were some questions asked in an ongoing copyright lawsuit over Buck Rogers.
– Paul Hollywood, of the Great British Bake Off, is battling a crumpet baker for trademark rights.
– Is the “seven-second rule” of copyright use valid?
Play It
– The USPTO published a second design patent for the mysterious $4.5 billion start-up, Magic Leap.
– The Rubik’s Cube company is suing Toys ‘R’ Us and Duncan Toys over similar “imitation twist puzzle cube[s].”
– A Texas jury awarded $10 million to iLife in a lawsuit against Nintendo over remote control technology.
– Atari is not happy with a new Kit Kat ad campaign, which they claim violates their trademark and copyright protections of their iconic video game Breakout.
Sing It
– Taylor Swift released a new song on August 24th. She also immediately filed some new trademark applications, for “Reputation,” “The Old Taylor Can’t Come to the Phone Right Now,” and “Look What You Made Me Do.”
– Kanye’s sneaker line, Yeezys, is part a growing counterfeit problem and the growing black market for sneakers.
– Has the first-sale doctrine survived the digital era?
Odds and Ends
– Guatemalan artists are pursuing copyright infringement cases for over 64,000 products listed on Etsy.
– A patent marketing firm accused of scamming inventors out of $26 million will have their assets frozen until their October 2018 trial.
– A new study by George Washington University suggests that trademark count, rather than patent count, is the better indicator of innovation.
– While many people easily recognize strong logos, a recent survey found that only 37% of people can recall logos with fair accuracy and only 16% with near perfect accuracy.